SAN JOSE -- Electronic chemicals used in producing printed circuit boards, ICs and other semiconductor chips will rebound from a sharp drop in revenues from 2007 through 2009 to reach $30.9 billion in sales by 2015.

The market fell by some $2 billion during the 24 month period ending in 2009, says Global Industry Analysts, but global demand for electronics gases, and chemicals for PCBs and semiconductors are expected to increase at a moderate pace through 2015.The firm did not disclose the forecast percentage gain during the period.

The US and Asia-Pacific account for a lion's share of the global electronic chemicals market, with semiconductor fabrication plants expected to resume investments as the chip industry continues to move up to the next generation in IC manufacturing.

Major players in the marketplace include Air Products and Chemicals, Air Liquide, BASF, Dow Chemical, Gentek, Kanto Chemical, Linde, OM Group, Silecs, Shin-Etsu Chemical, Sumitomo Chemical, and Tokyo Ohka Kogyo, among others.